Blaze
by Chibi Tidus
Summary: Post Season 5: AU, Willow has turned evil and killed Dawn. The only way to bring her back is to kill the one who killed her. Buffy knows what she has to do.


Blaze  
  
The day that marked the end had drawn near. The air in the little shop had intensified steadily over the past few weeks, knowing that the time was nearly right to begin what would almost definitely result in their demise. After several months of plotting and planning, There came a time when something had to be done.  
  
It was horrid, just sitting in that small town on the edge of the world, where Hell met Earth. They stood in between Heaven and Hell, staring them both in the face and getting stronger to resist them both as time went on.  
  
The final struggle was at hand, the ultimate showdown between good and evil, where the masks had been changed over time so that who was who had become unclear. Were they the good guys? Or had they somehow become the bad?  
  
"We need to find that last text."  
  
Buffy Summers looked up from her drawing pad, on which she had depicted a weird vertigo of the heavens clashing with Hell. Angels swept down, their radiant energy destroying the hellish fiends. The demons retaliated with their own stunning show of obscene death. "What last text?"  
  
Ignoring her, Giles continued on. "If we could only find that last link." He put the book he had been carrying down and started pacing.  
  
"I think this is it!" Anya screamed, running form behind the desk to where Giles had stopped, looking at her with a peculiar look on his face. He took the book from her, read the passage to him, and his face went pale.  
  
"No, this is not it."  
  
"But it is! It says right there!"  
  
"No, Anya!"  
  
"What does it say?" Buffy asked, rising to her feet. "If it could help in the slightest, we could use it, right?" "Well, yes, but.Not this!" Giles slammed the book shut and threw it across the room. He slumped down in a chair, put his head in his hands, and started shaking softly. After a few moments, Buffy went to his side, patted him on the arm, and then slapped him.  
  
The smack resounded through the shop, and the look on Buffy's face turned to one of disgust. "You are the fabric which binds us together. Now, my sister died a few weeks ago. If there is any way to get her back and repay the demon that did this to her, you are going to tell me. Am I clear?"  
  
Xander Harris slowly rose from his seat across from them. "Buffy," he said in a clam voice, "we don't need this right now."  
  
Willow Rosenberg sat straight up in bed. She had it. All the answers to the puzzle had finally come to her. The riddle was solved, and now she could save the world herself.  
  
She stood, crossed the room, and looked into her mirror. The image that stared back at her wasn't one of her. Somewhere along the line she changed, and not for the better. Her hair was always messy; her facial features had been aging faster and faster because of the magic coursing through her body, which she simply refused to use.  
  
The image looking back through the glass reminded her of everything that has happened over the past six years. Everything she had ever done had brought her to this final conclusion.  
  
The day she had the dream would be her last.  
  
The day she dreamed, the world trembled.  
  
Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she reached for her clothes. Pulling on the black leather pants she now wore and a nice blood red lace shirt over it, she headed for the door.  
  
Buffy wasn't the only one with a destiny, after all.  
  
The punching bag was taking a beating during this lesson. Without Giles there to help her, Buffy only did the bag. Slamming blow after blow into it, she was surprised it was still hanging on the wall. One swift kick, however, sent it flying across the room to smack against the far wall. Shaking her head, she made her way to it to see how much damage she had done.  
  
Not seeing much, she went back into the first room.  
  
Xander grabbed her as she was going in. "Are you sure that you're ready for this?" He asked her, not sure if he wanted the answer or not. The very thing that he had been scared about was about to come true: Buffy may die without a chance of coming back.  
  
With a mournful look in her eye, she replied, "As long as Dawn lives."  
  
Shaking with grief, Xander let go of Buffy and stumbled into the training room. Buffy, thinking that he would get over it soon, continued on into the next room.  
  
Giles rose. "You do know that you have to face her alone, don't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And are you really prepared.to die?"  
  
"Yes I am. I've died once before. My sister gave her life to save ours, and she deserves to live. I could have stopped her, and dove in myself, but I didn't. I was weak when she was strong. She is the one that should be alive now, not me. And as she fell towards the portal, I saw Willow put her arms up, I could have stopped that as well, but. There's no way that you're going to stop me."  
  
Pulling a long, elaborate sword out of her bag, Buffy made her way to the door. As she walked, she saw-  
  
The door opens. Dawn comes running in, shouting, "Hey! I passed my math mid-term!"  
  
Buffy equally excited as she is rushes towards her and wraps her in a big hug. "Oh Dawn! I'm so proud!"  
  
Dawn flashes her smile and moves towards the others, showing them all the slip of paper and beaming very cheerfully as each member of the Scooby Gang congratulates her on a job well done.  
  
-The door opened. Tara strode in, and blocked the door. "Buffy, you're not doing this. She's my lover, so please stop trying to make it right for her. I will do it!"  
  
"You can't bring Dawn back. I can."  
  
"You know that's a load of bull! Do you really think that killing yourself will bring back your sister! No way!"  
  
"It's what all the books say, Tara, now get out of my way."  
  
"Willow was my responsibility. I let her get out of control, its all my fault! If this fight is anybody's fault, if you're looking for someone to blame, blame me! Not yourself!" Tara stood up taller in front of the door. She crossed her arms over her chest, making it seem like she wasn't going to leave for anything.  
  
Buffy strode up to her and shoved her out of the way. She pulled open the door, ran out, and fled into the town.  
  
Tara slammed against a glass shelf. It exploded under the force of here flying into it and glass showered over the entrance to the shop. She lay there, quivering in fright. Buffy had been so strong, no determined. She realized that there was nothing she could have done. The slayer was going to die. A soft, warm sensation took over her body as Giles, Xander, and Anya rushed over to her.  
  
"It doesn't look good," Xander said. Blood trickled freely form the open wound on her forehead. The puddle on the floor was nearly to their feet now.  
  
Giles looked up at Xander. "Go call an ambulance. She needs medical attention, now."  
  
As Xander rushed to the phone, Anya asked: "She's going to be okay, right? I mean."  
  
Rubbing his forehead, Giles responded. "I don't know. I just don't know."  
  
Tara gazed up at the two of them as if they were hundreds of miles off in outer space. "Sleep now." she said lazily, and her eyes rolled up in her head.  
  
"NO! Tara, listen to me! You can't fall asleep," Giles pleaded, shaking her shoulders slightly. Her head lolled on her shoulders.  
  
Running back into the room, Xander said, "They'll get here as soon as they can. How is she?"  
  
The sound of sirens could be heard far off in the distance.  
  
Buffy Summers ran down the streets of Sunnydale, on the alert for anything that could resemble danger. The sun was bright and shining. It rays did nothing to warm her cold face. The eternal freeze could never be lifted.  
  
The more she thought about death, the more Buffy longed for it. It was almost time for her to pass from this earth and move on to a better realm. Dawn would be safe, the evil would be destroyed, and she would be with her mom again. She thought briefly if her mom was watching her, waiting for her to return, then shoved the thought to the back of her head. She needn't be distracted at this point. The game was nearly finished.  
  
Then she could leave.  
  
There she was, standing in the middle of the street. Suddenly she seemed to just appear before Buffy's eyes, materializing out of nowhere. Willow.  
  
Buffy never thought that she would have to face off like this in front of her best friend, but here she was. Crossbow in hand, her dear friend standing less than twenty yards away, both ready for combat.  
  
An ambulance rushed by them, making their hair fly into their faces. Buffy saw the menace on Willow's face through the tangles of hair, and gave a slight smile. So this was the end?  
  
But before she died, there was one thing she wanted to know.  
  
"Why'd you kill her?"  
  
Willow looked slightly startled at this, by smiled anyway. "When I went to extract my revenge on Glory, she was really impressed. I was her back up plan."  
  
"Back up plan?"  
  
"If something were to happen to her, I was supposed to kill the key. I did, but it was too late. The little bitch jumped form the platform and closed the portal."  
  
"Well," Buffy said with a toss of her hair, "she's coming back."  
  
"Oh really? How?"  
  
"If I die, the stopping of my blood restarts hers."  
  
"Well, if you're ready to die for her, then lets start, ok?"  
  
"Right."  
  
The moment before they started to fight, a figurer stepped out of an alleyway. He had been watching the whole thing, and now felt he needed to step in. Willow was the first to spot him.  
  
"Oz!"  
  
Buffy stopped, one foot lifted off the ground, preparing to run, and gawked at the male standing only a few feet away from her.  
  
"What are you two doing?" He managed to keep his voice cool and collected, as always. "I can't believe you're about to fight. What happened?" "She killed Dawn."  
  
Oz looked greatly surprised at this. He turned back to Willow, saw the evil burning in her eyes, and got scared. "Willow? Will? Is this true?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
He stumbled backwards. "No, this cannot be. It worked."  
  
"What worked?" Buffy and Willow said in unison.  
  
He ran up to Willow. "You know what I'm talking about. Where's Willow?" Oz put his fingers up to her forehead in a triangle and her skin started to melt away.  
  
Willow, screaming in agony, pulled away. She fell to the ground and writhed until she melted away.  
  
People were by now staring at the trio on the street. Oz tried his best to get them to leave, but more and more kept coming in. He finally gave up and went back to Buffy's side.  
  
"What happened?" Tears were welling up in her eyes. Oz couldn't see her face, but he knew, he could hear it in her voice.  
  
"It's a shadow. Willow's been dead for a long time. That was what she would have become. They have been running wild all over the country."  
  
"So there never was a chance that Dawn could have come back?"  
  
"No."  
  
Putting his arm around her, Oz lead Buffy off into the distance, away from everything that had happened in this small town. Away form all her worries, away from all the pain.  
  
The sunset that night was beautiful.  
  
It should be, it was the start of Buffy's new life. 


End file.
